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I am in my early twenties and am seriously considering a career in entrepreneurship. I have a partner and we are in the midst of entering our business idea into

I am in my early twenties and am seriously considering a career in entrepreneurship. I have a partner and we are in the midst of entering our business idea into numerous entrepreneurship contests. The only problem is that neither of us know any code. One of our business coaches, a successful entrepreneur himself, suggested that the programming can be done with little problems -that there is still much utility in two idea boys. However, to be truly successful, it has occurred to me that we will need to know the ins and outs of programming. Perhaps we won't need to be experts, but a successful leader must be well versed in every aspect of his company. Does everyone agree? Can anyone make some recommendations about where I should get started learning code?

swalkergibson 15y ago
As someone who was in your position about 2 years ago, I have the following advice for you. First, you should look at some tutorials before you find this individual so you understand the very basics of whatever language you are looking to grok. If you are looking for PHP, www.w3schools.com is a decent place to start for the super basics. Once you have a very basic understanding of the language, the best thing to do is find a developer who will work for equity, or a minimal salary, and make it your job to watch him/her as he/she builds your product. It is definitely going to tie up most of your time when you could be doing "other things," but it will serve two major purposes. For one thing, you will have at least a rudimentary understanding of the technologies which will compose your product, thus assisting you in future hires. Secondly, assuming the individual you bring on initially is patient enough, you will have a private tutor who can step you through the creation of a real product, as opposed to contrived academic problems which you will lose interest in very quickly. Granted, this is really just "minimum viable programming" insofar as you will probably not have the occassion to really generate a deep understanding of the concepts behind software development, but at least you can contribute more directly to the actual product. Ultimately, this approach is dependent on the individual you bring on to build the initial product. If he/she is patient and willing enough to be your teacher, then it can work out nicely. Best of luck!
- rocamboleh 15y ago
  Thanks for the input! I assume you found a similar individual? I'm eager to learn and absolutely concur on bringing someone in who is both knowledgeable and recognizes the importance of everyone knowing the ins and outs of their product.

swalkergibson 15y ago

As someone who was in your position about 2 years ago, I have the following advice for you. First, you should look at some tutorials before you find this individual so you understand the very basics of whatever language you are looking to grok. If you are looking for PHP, www.w3schools.com is a decent place to start for the super basics. Once you have a very basic understanding of the language, the best thing to do is find a developer who will work for equity, or a minimal salary, and make it your job to watch him/her as he/she builds your product. It is definitely going to tie up most of your time when you could be doing "other things," but it will serve two major purposes. For one thing, you will have at least a rudimentary understanding of the technologies which will compose your product, thus assisting you in future hires. Secondly, assuming the individual you bring on initially is patient enough, you will have a private tutor who can step you through the creation of a real product, as opposed to contrived academic problems which you will lose interest in very quickly. Granted, this is really just "minimum viable programming" insofar as you will probably not have the occassion to really generate a deep understanding of the concepts behind software development, but at least you can contribute more directly to the actual product. Ultimately, this approach is dependent on the individual you bring on to build the initial product. If he/she is patient and willing enough to be your teacher, then it can work out nicely. Best of luck!

rocamboleh 15y ago
Thanks for the input! I assume you found a similar individual? I'm eager to learn and absolutely concur on bringing someone in who is both knowledgeable and recognizes the importance of everyone knowing the ins and outs of their product.